 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi everyone. I've stopped sulking that my ski trip is over and started to think about next year. At the moment it's between Courchevel and Belle Plagne. I've been to Courchevel the last two years and love it but I'm thinking we should maybe have a change. Can anyone share their views on Belle Plagne? I've looked at two reviews, both of which highlight long queues and crowded pistes. Are they really that bad or is it just at peak season?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I've skied in la plague 3 times and courchevel/ la tavnia 4 times it's not even a close call. Courchevel every time for the skiing. I could go to courchevel for 5 years and not rush back to la plagne 😲😲. Ironically the place I'm most likely to go next year is la plagne albeit due to disability ski group that we ski with having a trip there next year. Pisted are much more varied and interesting in courchevel before you even venture further afield. If you want a change try serve chevalier or Alps d huez for resorts in similar price category to la plagne . I doubt that la plague is busier than courchevel at peak season. Certainly off season I've not had problems with lift queues. Lift system is generally better around courchevel than la plagne.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Belle Plagne is, by some way, the nicest of the higher stations in La Plagne but it's still La Plagne which is a bit like somebody plonked Reading half way up a mountain
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Cameronphillios2000  great view of the council estate in reading below
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Depends what type of skiing you want to do. La plagne's big problem is the very busy central area and lack of variety in the central pistes. But at the extremes of the system, whether bellecote, champagny, montalbert etc the piste skiing is fantastic. And there's lots of nice off piste too
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I was in BP this year the week before half-term. Great ski-in, ski-out to the Esprit hotel. There was an issue with queuing in Plagne Bellecote and Plagne Central but nothing too horrendous. However, I did avoid the times when it seemed everyone was finishing lunch to go back on the slopes. The main 'bowl' can be a bit boring but heading further afield yields some great skiing. The biggest issue I found was that some of the lower piste were well scraped quite early in the day and my skis took a hammering on the the way to Montchavin or Champagny.
The added benefit of course is the link to Les Arcs. I only did one day there but would probably do a couple of days if I went back to BP.
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@Gaza, thanks. It's Esprit I'm looking at. Doesn't sound awful. Was it noticeably bad, in comparison to other places?
@Plake, the off-piste is why I'm interested, but that's only a small part of my week. And there's the rest of the group . . .
@dan100, I know. Courchevel is great. And no queues. But I sort of feel that as an adventurist, traveller sort I should try somewhere else. But I'm limited, not only by Esprit, but by where they do their Sprite Advanced.
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I rate the piste skiing in paradiski to be far superior to 3v, many more unpisted blacks and itineraries as well as pisted motorways, something for everyone. The food on the mountain is much better value too.
The off piste looked good but either heavy or bullet proof when we were there two weeks ago.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Interesting thread..
I stayed in Les Arcs during March - I preferred the skiing in La Plagne ! :: The prices in Courchevel put me off :: My parties solution would be to stay in Vallandry (Les Arcs to the left, La Plagne to the right  )
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LP and Cour are very different places. I don't holiday in St Tropez every year and then pop to Tenby expecting it to be the same just because it had a beach
Prioritise what you want from your holiday and search/ travel accordingly.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I thought Belle Plagne was reasonably attractive when I visited about ten years ago. It was also half term, and while I can remember some queuing, it wasn't too bad. I liked the skiing too. I'm sure there's little need to worry about queues and crowds if you're going off-peak.
The main lift out of the village is the mid-station of the gondola from Bellecote. Could be difficult for a big group to get in a cabin together in the morning, but shouldn't be a problem for a single / couple etc.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@henzerani, have a look here - http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=2683132&highlight=esprit#2683132 - at my trip report to BP. Also have a look here - http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?p=2496717&highlight=esprit#2496717 - for my trip report to Val d'Isere last year.
I too have the same issue as you; wanting to go somewhere with Esprit that does Advanced. However, I decided that we weren't going back to BP next year, mainly due to the cost differential between it and the Ducs du Savoie. What I am doing is taking all the benefits of Esprit but organising lessons for my son directly with a VdI ski school. I've been recommended Progression Ski - http://www.progressionski.com - and will probably go with them. I'll book my son in to "Mountain Goats" as that sounds about right for his level. Their lessons are 4 hours long compared to Esprit's 3 hours and the cost is comparable. Evo 2 also offer good kids packages and are worth a look.
As I ski in the afternoon with my son having Esprit take him back for lunch is not necessary.
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I think people sum this up very well. The bowls are pretty boring and busy but the satellite areas interesting. The only problem is that Champagny, Montchavin etc. are low and conditions often poor, particulalry the south facing slopes above Champagny. The Bellecote area is great but usually has a very long queue to get there.
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You know it makes sense.
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| henzerani wrote: |
@Gaza, thanks. It's Esprit I'm looking at. Doesn't sound awful. Was it noticeably bad, in comparison to other places?
@Plake, the off-piste is why I'm interested, but that's only a small part of my week. And there's the rest of the group . . .
@dan100, I know. Courchevel is great. And no queues. But I sort of feel that as an adventurist, traveller sort I should try somewhere else. But I'm limited, not only by Esprit, but by where they do their Sprite Advanced. |
Having stayed in both their places in Courchevel and Belle Plagne, despite (or maybe because?) of the BP place being plusher I MUCH preferred their Courchevel place and muh prefer the ski area as well.
I am surprised they don't do the Sprite Advance in more places does anybody know why? Thinking of spamming their facebook page as they seem to respond to that, if enough of us push for it maybe they will extend the offering?
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Poster: A snowHead
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@Gaza, I have posted the question on there facebook page I reckon if enough people comment on it they may take notice. I agree completely about Val D'Isere and also St Anton is another! Though that could be driven by the number of guest they have at any one time now they only have one property?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Esprit have responded:
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Esprit Ski
Hi Nicola,
Different classes are opened in various resorts due to demand. After seeing slightly more demand for Sprite Advanced lessons this season, we will be increasing the number of resorts that this is offered in.
Sprite Advanced currently runs in Courchevel, Belle Plagne and La Rosiere. For next season, this will be extended to include Val d’Isere and Meribel.
We continually monitor the services we offer and take on board the feedback that we receive from our resort staff and guests, so this may well be extended again in future.
We hope that this is something that will suit you and your family.
Kind regards
The Esprit Team
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Stayed in Belle Plagne 3 years ago and have to say it's a very good looking place - for a French purpose built mountain-top resort. We were there in mid-Jan, so outside school holidays and I don't remember any queues worth mentioning.
Only major down-sides I can remember are the ice covered, sloping, smooth wood walkway to get from the left to centre of 'town' and that there seemed to be a lot of flat bits in the ski area (that I always forgot to carry enough speed in to, but that could just be memories of polling making them seem worse than they were ).
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Just to throw my opinion into the mix - I much prefer Belle Plagne!
I won't go over what others have said but would like to add that I definitely felt the pistes in La Plagne were much better looked after than those around the 3 valleys - if it's piste skiing your after then that's great, if it's off-piste then that's clearly irrelevant.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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We were in Belle Plagne last month, loved it, truly ski in ski out and some great pistes all over the mountain. We'd go out at 9am and come back around 3-4pm never doing the same piste twice (if we didn't want to ), we really liked the way it was linked up.
Here is my review of the resort, the travel and the accomodation
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=118176
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
The latter is very important as Mrs Gaza has insisted on a February half-term break to Dubai in 2016.
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I think the skiing is rather limited in Dubai, but perhaps you can save some money and go to Milton Keynes instead.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
Could be difficult for a big group to get in a cabin together in the morning
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But provided they were the tough, independent, sort who could bear to be parted for the time it took the lift to get up the mountain, they could probably cope.
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Gaza Picture one is from BP, the restaurant centre towards top of pic is Le Chalet de Trieuse with the Colossus 8 seater chair going past to the side of it.
Picture two is at the top Grand Rochette just below the Funi Plagne lift looking down the Piste Petit Rochette. The barn roof on the right of the pic on the piste down to Champagny is often skied upon sometimes, successfully 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| pam w wrote: |
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Could be difficult for a big group to get in a cabin together in the morning
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But provided they were the tough, independent, sort who could bear to be parted for the time it took the lift to get up the mountain, they could probably cope. |
I do think they have the ability to "slot-in" extra bubbles at the middle station. I'm fairly certain I saw this happen when we were on it.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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You know it makes sense.
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Notwithstanding my withering scorn of la plane there are lovely motorway pistes that make it a great area for intermediate skiing. Plague Central is one of the most shocking examples of mountain architecture. Genuinely repulsive. Belle plague itself not bad.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Been 3 times each to both and BP gets my vote by a mile. Better kept pistes, better off piste, not the rip off prices of 3V
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Poster: A snowHead
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| dan100 wrote: |
| Notwithstanding my withering scorn of la plane there are lovely motorway pistes that make it a great area for intermediate skiing. Plague Central is one of the most shocking examples of mountain architecture. Genuinely repulsive. Belle plague itself not bad. |
That may be so but unless I'm on a sightseeing holiday I really don't care too much about what the local architecture looks like. I'm quite good at putting the blinkers on at the same time as I put ski gear on.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Some say it's an intermediate's paradise but it's not. It's up and down wit lots of poling and big queues that eat into ski time.
I do agree with Tango that off- piste opportunities are massive. I've never done it but I've heard the off piste routes off the top of the Bellecote glacier are amazing with a 2000m vertical down to Montchavin.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@cameronphillips2000, yep it's shocking isn't it, the most popular ski resort on the planet by visitor numbers, but guess I there is a reason for that, which you must be missing.
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Very dubious statistic as it's a number of resorts under one pass. If you classed other linked areas as one resort then they would have more visitors. I've skied La Plagne a few times and enjoyed it. There just happen to be many areas in Europe with far more to offer, whatever type of skiing you're looking for.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I regarded it as skiing the paradiski area regardless of whether I was staying in the la plagne side or les arcs side, just as I would be skiing 3v regardless of which village I was staying in, just as we skied the sella ronda area etc. It only gets a bit sketchy when you say you can have one day in 3v on a paradiski pass as, without a car, is difficult to do.
When it comes to challenging piste skiing for the advanced skier, paradiski easily beats 3v and the sella ronda is a non starter.
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When will they build a lift from Champagny to Courchevel?
Let's be honest, if you want challenging piste skiing La Plagne, 3V and SR are not the best options in the world and non of these resorts would claim to offer it. I think Arabba offers some good steeper skiing, certainly up there with anything in the 3V.
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Not sure if serious? Champagny to Courchevel would be probably 3 or 4 x the distance of the vanoise express...it'll never happen, and nor should it.
The piste skiing in Arabba is tougher than most dolomite places but it's not exactly gold standard for tough avalanche safe stuff. For that you've got to cross the pond, somewhere like snowbird for example
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| Plake wrote: |
Not sure if serious? Champagny to Courchevel would be probably 3 or 4 x the distance of the vanoise express...it'll never happen, and nor should it.
The piste skiing in Arabba is tougher than most dolomite places but it's not exactly gold standard for tough avalanche safe stuff. For that you've got to cross the pond, somewhere like snowbird for example |
I think you're looking at a different threa if you're looking for off piste.
Champagny Courchevel is about the same distance as Plagne Bellecote to the Bellecote Glacier with no moutains in the way. It would be a far easier link to what' s being done between St Anton and Lech.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Years ago Champagny had the choice to join 3v or La Plagne, the rest is history.
AFAIK there is a regular bus service that does link Champagny to Bozel for the 3V. or something similar....
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It would be great for La PLagne skiers but not so sure of the Benefits for Courchevel skiers who'd have to travel a long way to get to the good bits of La Plagne.
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